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G. E. ELIA.

TOR'PEDOBOAT.

APPLICATION FILED JAN-25.1917.

5 SHEETSSHEET I THE COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPII cu.. WASHINGTON, h. c.

G. E. ELlA.

TORPEDO BOAT;

APPLICATION FILED JAN-25, I91?- 1,312,391

5 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

gwua nfoc THE COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH co., WASHINGTON, n. c.

Patented Aug. 5, 1919.

G. E. ELIA.

TORPEDO BOAT. APPLICATION FILED IAN-25. 1917.

1,312,391. Patented Aug. 5, 1919.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

G. E. ELIA.

TORPEDO BOAT.

APPLICATION FILED JAN-25. 1911.

Patented Am. 5, 1919.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

o ooo oo O O m mm? llllll II III llllll rue COLUMBIA I'LANOGRAPH ccu,WASHINGTON. u. c.

30 mechanism that a predetermined number of GIOVANNI ELE ELIA, OF NEWYORK, N. Y.

TORPE-DOrBOAT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 5, 1919'.

Application filed January 25, 1917 Serial No. 144,480.

State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inTorpedo- Boats; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full,clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains. to make and use thesame.

This invention relates to torpedo boats, and particularly to the meansfor discharging torpedoes therefrom.

An object of the invention resides in so constructing the boat andlocating the torpedoes within the same that the liability of the latterprematurely exploding, even when the boat contacts with and causes theexplosion of a submarine explosive, is reduced to the minimum.

A further object of the invention resides in so constructing the torpedoboat that the torpedoes will be discharged transversely to the line ofmovement of the boat, so that a torpedo boat is substantially parallelto the course of the attacked ship; I

A further object of the invention resides in so constructing the torpedodischarging torpedoes may be successively discharged so as to form, inefiect, a barrier to the ship which is being attacked; 7 With these andother objects in View, such as will appear as my description progresses,my invention comprises the combination and arrangement of parts as setforth in and falling withinthe scope of the appended claims. r I

Figure 1 is a plan view of a torpedo boat constructed in. accordancewith .my inventiong w i Fig. 2 is a side elevation thereof;

Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic View illustrating the barrier formed by thesuccessively disdischarge from one side of the boat until it reaches aposition at a predetermined distance from the surface of the water;

Fig. 6 is a similar view, but showing the torpedo discharged from theopposite side of the ship; I

Fig. 7 is a transverse sectional view through the torpedo boatillustrating the location of the protective means and the torpedodischarging means;

Flg. 8 is a longitudinal sectional View through a portion of the boatand the discharging tube; and

Fig. 9 isadetail.

In the drawings, I have illustrated my invention as embodied in atorpedo'boat which is designated generally by the reference character A,which is propelled by suitable motive power (not shown). This boatconsists of a hull B, to which entrance is gained through a hatchway C.The main hull is provided with an armor G, andbelow the samewith aprotective device D, which is constructed, preferably, in accordancewith my invention as set forth in my coepending application, Serial No.136,037, filed December 9, 1916, and consists, broadly, of a shell Fwhich envelops the hull B below the water line and is provided withlongitudinally extending cells E, which consist, preferably,

of metal and wood, or such other materials i plosion, the equilibrium ofthe boat will not be destroyed as the water of flotation fills theblown-away or destroyed portion of the protective device.

In'order that the torpedoes may be discharged successively from thebottom of the I boat and transverselyto the line of movement thereof, Ihave provided one or more discharge tubes 1, which extend from withinthe 'main hull B rearwardly and downwardly through the boat and openbeneath the bottom thereof. Each of these tubes is rectangular in crosssection and of sufficient width to accommodate the ordinary torpedo,such as illustrated in Figs. 7 and 8 of the drawings, and indicated bythe reference character m. .At the upper end of this tube 1, within thehull of the boat, is a door 2, which is: provided with suitable pivotedlocking bolts'3. This door extends completely across the discharge ortorpedo tube 1, being of sufiicient length to permit the placing of thetorpedoes in the tube, so that their longitudinal axes extend exactlytransversely of the tube. At the lower end of the tube a door 4: isprovided, which normally closes the end, but is adapted to be operatedto open the same by means of an operating chain 5 which extends into thehull B as illustrated in Fig. 8.

In order that the torpedoes may be positively forced from the tube 1, Ihave provided a follower 6 in the upper end of the tube, which followeris forced downwardly within the tube and against the torpedoes by meansof compressed air, which enters between the head 7 of the tube and thefollower 6 through the medium of a valved pipe 8, which extends from asuitable source of compressed air, such as the storage tank 6illustrated in Figs. 7 and 8. The follower 6 is retracted and brought toits initial position between the door 2 and the head 7, so as to permitthe placing of the torpedoes in the tube, by means of a winding drum 9on which a suitable cable 10 operates, which cable extends through thehead 7 and is attached to the follower 6. This drum 9 is operated by anysuitable means, such as a motor'll. It will thus be seen that as thefollower 6 is forced downwardly in the tube, and when the door 4 at thelower end thereof is open, the torpedoes will be forced from the tube,so that their longitudinal axes will extend in a transverse relation tothe longitudinal axis of the torpedo boat. At the lower end of the tube1, a suitable cam 12 is provided, which cam operates the trip levers 13011 the torpedoes m, as they move successively from the tube 1, whichtrip levers set in motion the propelling mechanisms of the torpedoes. Itis to be" understood that the torpedoes are of a construction which iscommonly used, and a detailed description of the same is, therefore, nothere indulged in.

In operation, when it is desired to discharge a series of torpedoes atan objective ship, or the like, it is only necessary to open the door 2in the tube 1 and place the desired number of torpedoes in the tube, thecommunication between the tube and the air storage tank 6 being at thistime out off by the valve in the pipe 8. After the placing of thetorpedoes within the tube, they assume such a position as is illustratedin Fig. 8 of the drawings, and upon the closing of the door 2 and theclamping of the same in place by the bolts 3, the valve in the pipe 8may be opened to allow the air from the tank 6 to exert pressure againstthe follower 6. When the door 4 at the lower end of the tube is openedby means of the lifting chain 5 and the hand-wheel for operating thesame, the torpedoes will be forced successively from the tube 1 by thefollower 6, the cable 10 at this time paying out from the drum 9. Itwill be understood that the torpedoes do not move down the tube orpassageway by gravity but must be moved downwardly by the follower 6 andthe air pressure exerted thereon. The discharging operation is thereforeunder the control of the operator in admitting compressed air to thetube 1 or discontinuing the admission of air thereto. Also, thetorpedoes do not roll on the bottom wall of the tube but slidethereover, If necessary, special provision may be made to preventrolling and therefore placing the torpedoes in the tube in the properposition insures coaction of the starting lever of each torpedo with thecam at the lower end of the torpedo tube. As each torpedo passes fromthe tube, the propelling mechanism thereof will be set in motion by theactuation of the trip lever 13 by the cam. 12. The torpedoes will bedischarged transversely to the course of the torpedo boat, as will bereadily obvious upon an inspection of Fig. 7 of the drawings, and,consequently, the boat may run parallel tothe course of the objectiveship during the discharge of the torpedoes.

In- Figs. 5 and 6 of the drawings, I have illustrated the manner inwhich the torpedoes are discharged from the tube-1;, illustrating inFig. 5, the torpedoes passing from the starboard side of the torpedoboat, and in Fig. 6 the torpedoes passing frozm the port side of theboat. Of course, the determination of the side from which the torpedoesleave the torpedo boat depends upon the direction in which they areplaced in the tube 1, as will be readily appreciated. As illustrated inFigs. 5 and 6 of the drawings, the torpedoes will, upon being dis?charged from beneath the torpedo boat, in their progress toward theobjective ship, rise to the proper depth of submersion, so that thepenetration of the objective ship will take place at the proper distancebelow the water line.

In Figs. 3 and 4 of the drawings, I have illustrated the manner in whicha series of 1 torpedoes may be discharged from the boat when the boat isrunning in advance of the ob ective ship Fig. 8 discloses torpedoes asforming, in effect, a barrier which is the result of the successivedischarging of the same, from the torpedo tube. Fig. 4: discloses themanner in which the objective ship, in attempting to penetratethebarrier, is struck by one ofthe torpedoes. It is, of course, to beunderstood that it ispossible for more than one of the'torpedoes tostrike the side of the objective ship, and this depends upon the advanceof the shipafter having been struck by one of the torpedoes and alsoupon the rapidity with which the torpedoes are discharged from the tube.

The several torpedoes in Figs. 3, 4 and '5 are designated by thecharacters a to g, inclusive.

It will, therefore, be seen that I have not only provided a novel meansfor discharging the torpedoes from the torpedo boat, but have alsoprovided a novel method of discharging the torpedoes so that at leastone will necessarily find its mark.

What I claim is 1. The combination, with a torpedo boat; of a torpedodischarging mechanism comprising a wide, shallow tube having its mouthdisposed transversely of the boat, means for forcing a torpedo broadsidethrough said tube while holding it against rotation, and means forautomatically setting the propelling mechanism in operation as thetorpedo passes through said mouth.

2. The combination with a torpedo boat, of means for automaticallyforcing torpedoes from the bottom of the boat with their axes extendingtransversely of the boat and at a rate which is under the control of theoperator, and means for succes- Coples of this patent may be obtainedfor sively setting in motion the propelling mechanisms of the torpedoesas they are discharged.

3. The combination with a torpedo boat, of means for conveying a seriesof torpedoes to a position beneath the boat with their axes transverselythereof, and means for forcing the torpedoes successively from saidconveying means at a rate which is under the control of the operator.

l. The combination with a torpedo boat, of a torpedo dischargingmechanism including a torpedo tube extending through the bottom of theboat, a manually operable door at the lower end of the tube, a similardoor at the upper end of the tube, a follower operable in the tube,means for conveying air under pressure between the follower and theupper closed end of the tube to cause the movement of the followertoward the open end of the tube, and means for retracting the follower.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

GIOVANNI EMANUELE ELIA.

five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington,D. 0,

